About
Dr Helen Cowan studied human physiology to PhD level at the University of Oxford. She then qualified with distinction in Adult Nursing and has worked as a nurse for 18 years in cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, elderly care, hospice care and clinical trials. As a result she has endless patient stories and real-life examples to add colour and depth to technical matters of human health and disease.
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Services
I write short articles to educate, inspire and bust myths about health and disease.
I write long articles delving into latest medical research, and am not afraid to cover sensitive topics such as dying, ethical issues such as do not resuscitate orders and pieces where medical opinion is divided such as HRT or antidepressant therapy.
I can work to very short deadlines or set aside time for detailed research, accessing the latest scientific papers and interviewing patients and families (in my role as a nurse) and medical professionals. Interviews have included those with a geneticist, a consultant neurologist and a haemophilia scientist. I maintain close ties with many Oxford-based medics and scientists, ready to provide expert opinion to support my writing.
moreWriting
Writing for the Reader's Digest online (since 2015), I explore human diseases and their drug treatments; I also marvel at the human body.
I blog about disability, infertility and nursing. I am a columnist in the British Journal of Cardiac Nursing, summarising latest research and exploring in greater depth cardiac nursing of the past, present and future.
Other writing includes those for the British Medical Journal, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Nursing Times and the Spinal Injuries Association.
View all my writing here
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